Key Senators Cave In to Monsanto

Yesterday, Senator Roberts (R-KS) and Senator Stabenow (D-MI) announced a deal to bring Monsanto’s dream bill to the Senate floor. Your Senators will vote as soon as next week.

To put it bluntly, the final bill is terrible. This so-called “compromise” simply hands Monsanto and Big Food corporations a complete victory.

Instead of on-package labels, the bill calls for companies to provide a website url, a QR code, a symbol or a phone number on the package that will send consumers on a wild goose chase to figure out what GMOs might be in their food.

This sham of a federal labeling scheme pre-empts any state law, robbing states of the right to adopt meaningful GMO labeling laws, as Vermont has done.

Added to that, the bill doesn’t even provide for any federal penalties for companies’ failure to comply. It excludes the most recent forms of genetic engineering, and it’s a total cave-in to Monsanto.

It’s critical that you take action today, even if you have before.

Take Action

Call or email both of your U.S. Senators to urge them to oppose Senator Pat Roberts’ bill or any compromise that doesn’t mandate on-package labels for genetically engineered foods.

You can look up who your Senators are and find their contact information:

Hi, my name is ___, and I am a constituent. I urge Senator _____ to reject the latest version of Senator Roberts’ bill (S. 2609), or any bill that prohibits states from requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs).

The current “compromise” for GMO labeling is completely unacceptable. It would preempt Vermont’s and other states’ laws and establish a federal program based on QR codes, a symbol, 1-800 numbers or a statement on packages referring people to websites.

The USDA will have 2 years to create the standards, and there will be no penalties for non-compliance. There are other problems, including a definition of genetic engineering that is too narrow.

Vermont’s mandatory labeling law goes into effect on July 1, and many companies have already started to put clear GMO labels on their food packaging all across the country to comply with Vermont’s law.

The proof is in their action — labeling GMO foods is feasible and inexpensive. They’re already doing it, finally doing what 90% of Americans have said they wanted. Please listen to the vast majority of Americans and reject Senator Roberts’ bill and any Senate compromise that would restrict states’ rights for labeling and result in anything less than clear mandatory on-package labels that state “contains genetically engineered ingredients.”

A phone call is more effective than an email. If you do send an email, please replace the opening few lines with your own personalized message — personal messages have more impact than form emails.

June 23, 2016

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